Okiba

Hello,

We are a couple in our 30ies that enjoy Alpine Hiking. We planing a full 5 days vacation in Austria and we are looking for a place that has good daily alpine hikes. Some research yield the following areas:

Seefeld, Zillertal, Zell am See, Lech etc.

It's not possible to visit all those places in 5 days of-course, as we plan to have daily walks. But we were wondering in your own opinion which are most impressive for hiking and views and how to split the 5 days we have between the selected areas.

Thanks!

J62

The two hikes I've done in Tirol and thoroughly enjoyed are both in/near Innsbruck - Nordkette & Patcherkofel mtns. Took the gondola to the top and hiked down.

PatrickLondon

With only 5 days, you might as well base yourself in one place and see what it has to offer.

For the last few years, I've been to Stubaital (near Innsbruck). Excellent public transport to the gondolas up to various starting points for walks of varying degrees of strenuousness.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick...57652585357814
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick...57645134684546
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick...57634297091715

elberko

Terrific photos, Patrick! Clearly a place I need to visit.

Adelaidean

Patrick, that's another addition to my bucket list, my sort of place...great photos.

PatrickLondon

Thanks for the compliments. I'm sure there are plenty of other lovely places around, but here's the details:
http://www.stubai.at/en/

Okiba

Thank you J62 and Patrick! I will check those out! Is there any information about the Zillertal valley?

love_travel_Aus

Loved the photos Patrick and have started a last minute check for late June 2016 (a very last minute trip).

However if I am reading this correctly then no lifts operate in June?
Over the past few years we have already had 2 hiking visits to Wengen, one to Seefeld and one to the Dolomites, (and also time around Garmisch Partenkirchen) and this looked ideal given we have work commitments to link in with.

So if we cannot use lifts is there enough access to beautiful walks for five days or should I be looking nearby?

One suggestion has been Chamonix but this is a lot more travel.
We cannot travel too far from this region...work related!

Welcoming suggestions from all!!!

PatrickLondon

You'd need to check for any particular area when they reopen their lifts. The gap between winter and summer seasons is when they do maintenance work, and the summer season may well not get under way until into June.

As far as I can see the Stubaital summer season started yesterday. The complete run of high-level lifts all the way up to the Glacier isn't open until early July, but there is one up to elsewhere in the snowfield for ski-ers (but you wouldn't want to be walking down from there), and other lifts in the valley, offering plenty of fine walks around them, are already open.

http://www.stubai.at/en/skiing-resorts/

love_travel_Aus

Thank you ever so much!

I have managed to find a map that I think clarifies what you are advising me: and can see more clearly the range of possibilities for lifts - not just to the Glacier which is a very long way up.
We are definitely not looking for snow.

This is the map:
https://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/e...es/summer-map/

It shows a lot of possibilities for us and I can now research individual lifts in the hope that they will be running late June.

I am hoping that the small lifts i see pictured are enclosed and not chairlifts but I will do some more research.

We have only started this kind of walking in the last six years and really enjoy it so extra thanks for your advice.
Alpine landscape is very special coming as we do from South Australia.

It is late here but I am going to try a little more research immediately.

PatrickLondon

Ah yes, that link only shows the lifts on the mountain up to the ski fields and the glacier. You could go up and have a hot chocolate in the cafe and look in the ski-shop, but there really isn't much walking up there. And though the lifts up to the Gamsgarten are enclosed cabins, the other lifts shown on the glacier map are chairlifts for the skiers.

For walking down through the forests and meadows, you need the other lifts - Schlick 2000 (for the Panoramaweg, which is an easy made path leading down to a café-restaurant part way down to the middle station on the same lift), Elferlift (several options, one round via the Issenangeralm for lunch and then down to the main road for the bus, or the other way on a narrower path through to Neustift again via the Autenalm for lunch, or up and over the hill to the monastery at Maria Waldrust) and Serlesbahnen. Their lifts (which are enclosed cabins) are running now. The bulk of my photos were taken on those walks.

Or there are more strenuous and adventurous walks. Zoom in on this map to see some options:
http://www.kompass.de/touren-und-reg...212-stubaital/

Or:
http://www.stubai.at/en/activities/hiking/

PatrickLondon

Beg pardon, the walk to Maria Waldrast is from the Serlesbahnen. All the lifts are reachable by bus.

love_travel_Aus

Again, thank you Patrick for all of this really useful information.

I now have a much clearer idea of things and can get on with the planning!